Welcome to /c/ScienceFiction
December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
We are a community for discussing all things Science Fiction. We want this to be a place for members to discuss and share everything they love about Science Fiction, whether that be books, movies, TV shows and more. Please feel free to take part and help our community grow.
Aside from Project Hail Mary which I assume every /c/sciencefiction subscriber is going to read what have you been reading or plan to read?
Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (August 2023)
Working through ‘Ten Low’ by Stark Holburn now. My partner is through the sequel already and recommended.
Working my way through Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Esselmont. Going to take a break from Malazan after this and dig into shorter stuff I've been meaning to get to.
The black fleet trilogy. Normally "space opera" isn't my preferred genre but these books are pretty great.
Children of Time. I heard about it from Quinn's reviews and have been wanting to read it ever since.
I just finished up The Ballad of Songsbirds and Snakes. Back when I read The Hunger Games trilogy, I flew through it and really loved it. This was a nice successor/prequel. Collins really knows how to keep a story moving and she did a nice job laying groundwork for decisions made at the end. Maybe a little too obvious, but consistent anyway.
This weekend, I'm hoping to get through a Jack Reacher book I started on Kindle one night when I couldn't sleep. And then it's on to Caliban's War as I continue The Expanse saga.
I'm working my way through Glynn Stewart's "Duchy of Terra' series, and Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars".
Both are a little bit on the light and adventure-y side, which is my speed right now.
Next up is revisiting Nathan Lowell's "Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper", which is kind of my happy place.
I am currently reading A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. I love her other work so I am excited to read this and the first few chapters read easily for me which is nice.
On a more SciFi note I just finished Artifact Space by Miles Cameron and it was decent. The protagonist is kinda annoying with the "I'm an idiot" thing but is pretty much good at everything they do. The author also goes into a lot of details on stuff that doesn't feel important to the story so it kinda felt like a slog to get through some of the earlier parts.
Been listening to The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles bk 2) by Patrick Rothfuss, and reading The Colour of Magic (Discworld) by Sir Terry Pratchett.
I picked up The Colour of Magic after getting burnt out on the horror elements in last book of the Dark Forest series. I wanted something bright and colorful and fun. I looooooved it! I'm on book 15 now. If you're into audio books, the ones that are coming out now on Audible are incredible. Normally I hate when there is more than one narrator because it sounds like a bunch of people talking over walkie talkies, but with less chemistry. This isn't like that at all. It genuinely adds to the story (though it might take away from some of the puns, not seeing the written words).
Thank you for the suggestion! I will look into them, but in all honesty this isn't my first time reading them, I'm actually reading them with my partner at the moment because he hasn't read Discworld before and needs a little encouragement to read.
Ah, then you wouldn't need to see the puns written down to get them! Even better.
I'm about half way through Quantum Radio by AG Riddle. It's pretty good so far. Alternate history / multiverse with good characters and action. Makes me think somewhat of Man in the High Castle meets Sliders.
Slogging through Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron
Usually I love Spinrad, but this is just so dated: The idea that a TV talk show host with a massive audience is holding the rich and powerful accountable, as opposed to pandering to them...
I'm re-reading the First Law series, actually listening to Steven Pacey read it to me. I recently finished Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. I want to read A Memory Called Empire next.
The Fifth Head of Cerebus and Nightside of the Long Sun. Gotta get that Wolfe out.
Just finished Lightbringer by Pierce Brown. Red Rising series is a must!
Currently reading Codex Alera 5 and loving every minute of it
I just finished re-reading the entire Expanse series and fell back on an old friend, Harry Dresden. Going to put that Weir book on my list though. I really enjoyed The Martian so I’d like to explore more of his work.
We Hear Voices by Evie Green- Sucks the book came out in 2020 at the heart of covid but so far it is a damn fine story interesting to see how it goes.
I'm halfway through Gaiman's American Gods and then I'm going to complete my journey though The Culture with The Hydrogen Sonata.
Everything by Martha Wells. I'm into fantasy more than sci-fi, but Murderbot Diaries got me started. Loved Witch King, and I'm now reading through the Ile-Rien series. I'd say her more recent work is her best but I'm enjoying the older stuff a lot.
Yesterday, finished Stephen Markley's The Deluge, a great read and a tremendous effort - highly recommend it.
The Deluge is a speculative fiction novel that focuses on the sociopolitical, economic, and ecological development of a series of catastrophic personal and global events stretching from the late 2010s with the narrative concluding around the late 2030s.
It's a longer novel, around 800 pages, if you prefer something more compact Markley's previous novel Ohio is terrific as well.
I'm on the third book in the Wayfarer Series by Becky Chambers. It's excellent 👌